Friday, September 6, 2013

Dick Blick and University of the Arts will be hosting the art exhibit By Association this Saturday, September 7th, from 6pm to 8pm at the 1330 Chestnut St. location. This is one of my few attempts at curating shows, so come out and eat the cheese.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Fleisher Ollman’s last exhibit at 1616
Walnut Street featured the Coogi paintings of Jayson Musson. Those with prior viewings
of Musson’s work know what to expect, but for visitors unfamiliar with his
portfolio, I advise you to ignore the literature and titles posted, and move
directly to the art on display. Doing so may help prevent the following
questions from running through your head.
“How did this happen? Why do these look so familiar?,” and “Is this
supposed to be ironic?”

I spoke with Mr. Ollman for a few
minutes about Musson and why his work was selected. Musson started exhibiting
at Fleisher Ollman in 2010, as part of a group show featuring emerging and unrepresented
artists. Ollman has followed the career of Musson as his work
has been shown in coffee shops and smaller spaces like Marginal Utility in
Philadelphia. Musson has built a name for himself through the use of a themes
commenting on race and class, reminiscent of Blaxploitation. Whether he is creating childlike drawings of
a superhero Obama fighting terrorists, or translating art-talk into hip-hop
commentary under the alter ego Hennessy Youngman (http://vimeo.com/17431354), Musson use of reverse racism capitalizes on the
pleasure some gain when poking fun at the perceived ignorance of blacks. In
doing so, Musson has type-casted himself as a parody of the black artist. More specifically, a black artist in black
face.

To get a better idea of Musson’s work
and the themes which run through it, visit his website and watch his
performance art on vimeo.com. Musson’s analysis of art theory as Hennessy
Youngman juxtaposes academic terms and concepts with urban dialogue and slang. His
use of opposing linguistic extremes show how far apart academia looks from the
neighborhoods that often surround them, but is it necessary to travel to such
lengths to create a following, or to prove a point? And is this a following
laughing with you, or at you?

Fig. 1 – South
of the Border

The latest collection consists of fabric
paintings made of Coogi sweaters, arranged by Musson, and often stitched by a
team of artists. At times the paintings successfully resemble landscapes (Fig.
1), but unfortunately have a habit of remaining the sweaters used to compose
them, failing to break away from their associations with the Cosby Show (Fig.
2).

Fig. 2 – How Do
You Get To Hear To The Rest Of The World?

Bill Cosby

Musson should be congratulated for
playing the game and winning, even at the sacrifice by dumbing down the
language of his work to make it entertaining for the establishment. However,
this commentary extends beyond his most recent exhibit, and refers to his
collective body of work. It should be understood that Hennessy Youngman is a
product of Jayson Musson, just as the Coogi sweater paintings are a product of
his approach to visual art.

Fig. 3 - Sherrie

By no means is that a personal attack on
an artist for successfully gaming the system, but it appears that Musson is
creating racially charged products for the arts establishment with the sole intent
of enlarging his audience and bank account, by, in the words of Ms. Risario,
New York quaintrelle, “cooning it up for white folks.” Musson is aware of his
acceptance into the establishment and consistently flirts with idea of pushing
his audience to see how racist they can be. The success of
Musson’s work may be addressing a larger issue with the establishment that
celebrates it. Being cultured is a privilege, and does not give you the right
to ridicule those who aren’t as lucky as you to have obtained a formal education.
I’ve never been impressed Musson, nor am I drawn to
cheap social clichés commenting on how funny it is to be black and ironic, but
I suppose the real is question being
asked is "isn't it ironic that I’m black?" There's nothing ironic
about hustling your identity in the guise of art. I've just grown to expect it
just as I would expect Duchamp to leave an upperdecker in my toilet and sign
the bowl R. Mutt.